After nearly 15 years of conflict and 2,378 deaths, the United States is still trying to find an exit to the longest war in American history. Millions of Americans voted for President Obama because he promised to withdraw our military from countries like Afghanistan; and two years ago he promised that by the end of his term, the only troops who remained would be guarding the US Embassy in Kabul.

Instead, it looks like there will be no further troop withdrawals for the duration of Obama’s presidency. The President announced today that the 8,400 troops currently stationed in Afghanistan will remain there until 2017. That is 3,000 more troops than he had originally planed.

“The security situation in Afghanistan remains precarious,” he said at a press conference on Wednesday, with Defense Ash Carter and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford standing beside him. “I strongly believe it is in our national security interest … that we give our Afghan partners the best opportunities to succeed.”

However, the President tried to spin the current deployment numbers as a success. “Compared to the 100,000 troops we once had there, today, fewer than 10,000 remain. And compared to their previous mission, helping to lead the fight, our forces are now focused on two narrow missions: training and advising Afghan forces and supporting counter terrorist operations against the remnants of al Qaeda as well as other terrorist groups, including ISIL,”

What he didn’t mention was that the “training and advising” is not working. The Afghan Army is crumbling under the weight of mounting casualties, desertions, supply shortages, and poor enlistment rates. Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s police forces are rife with corruption and run by a bunch of pedophiles.

It’s clear to anyone with a brain that the war in Afghanistan is an irredeemable failure, and no amount of soldiers or advisors will change that. The only reason why Obama is prolonging this conflict, is to preserve his legacy. He’s passing the buck on to the next president, so that he won’t be known as the man who let Afghanistan fall apart.